CVE-2024-44131
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThis issue was addressed with improved validation of symlinks. This issue is fixed in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia 15. An app may be able to access sensitive user data.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceA vulnerability in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia 15 involving insufficient validation of symbolic links that could allow a malicious application to traverse symlinks and access sensitive user data outside its intended sandbox or permissions boundary.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 18.0< 18.0< 15.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check iOS versionGo to Settings > General > About on the iPhone or iPad, or run 'sw_vers' via Terminal on macOS to view the installed versionAffected if The version shown is earlier than 18.0 (for iOS/iPadOS) or earlier than 15.0 (for macOS)
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Verify operating system nameRun 'uname -a' or check System Settings to confirm whether the device runs iOS, iPadOS, or macOSAffected if The device runs iOS, iPadOS, or macOS and the version check in step 1 shows a version below 18.0 (iOS/iPadOS) or 15.0 (macOS)
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Identify applications using symlink handlingReview installed applications that handle file paths, especially third-party file managers, backup utilities, or sync tools that may process symbolic linksAffected if The OS version is vulnerable AND applications that traverse file paths are in use, potentially allowing the symlink validation flaw to be triggered
The environment is affected if the device runs iOS, iPadOS, or macOS with a version number lower than 18.0 for iOS/iPadOS or lower than 15.0 for macOS, as these versions contain the patch for proper symlink validation.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped15.018.0
Update to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, or macOS Sequoia 15 as the vulnerability is patched in these versions. For third-party applications, ensure proper symlink validation is implemented when handling file paths.
iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia 15
- Ensure you have a current backup of your device before upgrading
- For iPhone: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 18
- For iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iPadOS 18
- For Mac: Go to System Settings > General > Software Update and install macOS Sequoia 15
- After upgrading, verify the update was successful by checking the OS version in Settings/About
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-44131 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-44131 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data